


It's not safe to go alone

by sunsetstargazer



Category: Grey's Anatomy, Station 19 (TV)
Genre: Broken Bones, But hopefully better at writing, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:55:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28648650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsetstargazer/pseuds/sunsetstargazer
Summary: Vic insisted that a weekend out in the wilderness would do everyone some good, and it did at least at first. Jack just needed some time alone to clear his head and so he heads out early before the others can stop him. By the time they realise he's gone he's already been off for hours, but he knows what he's doing and everything will be fine. Right?
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	It's not safe to go alone

**Author's Note:**

> A/N Hi everyone. So basically I wrote this a while ago now back when Jackson Avery and Vic were dating and when the characters of Station 19 went camping and took my inspiration from that basically. Poor Jack has been having a rough enough time on the show, but I just wanted to push it that extra bit since I'm a sucker for some good whump. I've done my best to proofread it so I'm hoping there's no glaring mistakes but I loved rereading it myself so I'm hoping someone else will get something out of it too. I hope you enjoy and leave a review of what you thought.

**It's not safe to go alone**

Everyone had insisted that the trip would make Jack feel better, but it only seemed to have made him more tense. A weekend away in the wilderness seemed like it would be good to distract him from the PTSD that he didn’t want to admit he had but he couldn’t deny that being away from the triggers that came with working as a firefighter had reduced his symptoms down to almost nothing. Nonetheless the incessant conversation and Vic wanting to play games, along with Ben suggesting he join him fishing constantly yesterday was sure to push him over the edge if it was repeated today. He knew he couldn’t handle it so instead he had already made up his mind as he lay in his sleeping bag watching it get progressively brighter outside the tent as the sun rose. Once it seemed light enough outside, he slowly unzipped the sleeping bag and then the tent door slipping out of the tent careful not to wake Dean who’d been snoring loudly next to him the whole night.

Stepping out into the cold morning air he watched his breath form a white cloud as it rose up into the trees. This is what he’d been hoping for; the quiet peacefulness and freedom to just be alone with his own thoughts. He walked over to the small table in the centre of the clearing and scribbled a quick note to the others, knowing they wouldn’t hesitate to set up a search party if they didn’t know what he was doing.

“ _Gone birdwatching, be back before lunch. Jack”_

With that sorted he filled a water bottle from the canteen they’d hung up from a tree and clipped it onto his belt, picking up some binoculars to at least make his story seem true even if he had no intention of looking for birds. He grabbed a cereal bar slipping it into his pocket and set off in a random direction and began hiking uphill away from their camp. Even the wildlife seemed to only just be waking up and he glanced at his watch quickly. 5:15AM. At least he’d gotten a few hours of sleep.

**At Camp, 7AM**

Ben was the first one up heading off to go to the bathroom out of view of camp and by the time he got back Jackson, Vic and Travis were milling about getting breakfast ready. Vic was already talking a mile a minute and even Jackson was looking a little bleary-eyed from his girlfriend’s boundless energy.

“I think we should all go fishing today, it seemed like fun yesterday and maybe we can cook up whatever we catch” Vic said heading over towards the only tent anyone had yet to emerge from. “Wakey wakey sleepyheads. Sun’s up so I’m up, let’s go guys!!!” Vic shouted shaking the canvas of Dean and Jack’s tent. The zip slowly opened, and Dean emerged scowling.

“God Vic calm down I’m up” Dean groused as he got to his feet and looked around.

“Come on Jack, I want everyone to go” Vic continued her tirade, but Dean interrupted her.

“Jack’s not in there, I thought he was already out here?” Dean said raising an eyebrow as he looked around the group, but he was only met with equally oblivious looks.

“I didn’t see him when I got up” Ben offered.

“Wait, he’s gone birdwatching apparently, be back before lunch” Travis called holding up the note Jack had left.

“No, because I told everyone that we were doing stuff together this weekend” Vic said shaking her head in confusion, but she noticed Ben smirking slightly. “What?” she asked.

“I think that might be why he’s gone; he was looking a bit overwhelmed yesterday” Ben said.

“Well, that’s just rude, fine if he doesn’t want to join in on my weekend of fun that’s up to him. We can all go fishing together instead” she said turning away before she could see the forced expressions of joy on everyone’s faces carefully concealing their desire to be out “birdwatching” with Jack.

**Unknown trail in Seattle, 8:30AM**

Jack had been hiking for hours now but he was having a far better time than yesterday, so he didn’t mind the way that his legs were aching from the steep gradient. Pretty early on in the hike he had chosen a ridge that he was aiming for before he would turn back, and he was already nearing the peak. The view from up here was spectacular and he had taken a couple of panoramas on his phone as he walked but it did also make him slightly tense since the edge of the path dropped away steeply into the trees about 20 foot below him and he had already crossed several points where it had clearly been washed away in heavy rains but there was no rain forecast today so he was confident it would be fine.

He rounded a sharp corner and felt his skin go cold as his stomach dropped, he had been focussed on watching his footing but what he hadn’t anticipated was a whole other kind of danger presenting itself to him. About 15 feet ahead of him was a grizzly bear, the path was narrow but more than big enough to allow the animal to be making its way down. Jack froze knowing that in all likelihood the bear would ignore him and move away but it just continued walking towards him. He took a step backwards keeping his eyes locked on the bear and finally it seemed to notice him and came to a halt. They must have stayed like that for a solid 10 seconds both staring at each other before the bear opened its mouth and began growling deep and savagely.

Jack abandoned all hope of the bear staying peaceful and scrambled back along the path hearing the bear following behind him. He kept going moving as quickly as he could, but the ground was rough, and the gradient combined with the loose rocks soon led to the inevitable. His foot slipped on a rock that had seemed stable at first glance and he fell sideways his arms wind milling as he tumbled off the pathway.

Flying head over heels down the hill he was still focussed on the bear but, he felt every rock and plant that he rolled over and he couldn’t process things fast enough to have any hope of controlling his fall. The ground didn’t level out even as he reached the trees, and he was beginning to panic that wouldn’t ever stop rolling but then suddenly his legs collided with something and his body flipped around his right arm taking the brunt of the impact with a second tree and finally he slowed down enough that he could put his arms out flat and stop rolling.

The sudden silence was deafening; the only sound that of blood pounding through his head; for what felt like forever. Then all at once the pain from almost his entire body hit him and he sucked in a choked gasp barely able to contain the cries that he desperately wanted to let loose. He couldn’t risk making a sound. He’d ended up laid on his side facing away from the ridge and even though he couldn’t hear any movement he had to move to check that the bear wasn’t attempting to follow him.

He slowly rolled onto his back and turned his head back to see the way he had come from but blessedly other than a trail of broken bushes and stirred up rocks there was nothing else out of the ordinary and no sign of the bear or any other animals. He’d probably scared off anything in the area with the commotion he’d created.

“Damn, what the hell was that? Only me…” he cursed to himself. No-one else would have gotten themselves into this situation but of course he had to want some time to himself.

“Ok, focus, assess, look for injuries” he was saying everything aloud now, but it had always helped him focus so he couldn’t really bring himself to care about how silly it might sound. Starting with his legs he checked that he could move them and despite some definite bruises from hitting the first tree they felt mostly alright. Then his neck and back seemed fine so he tried to move his arms and hit the first big issue.

His left arm was sore like the rest of his body but when he tried to move his right arm white hot pain ripped its way up from his forearm. Looking at it, he could see that his wrist was swelling under his jacket sleeve. He finished assessing the rest of his body and came up with a lot of bruises and some pretty badly bruised if not broken ribs, but his arm was definitely at the top of his problems right now.

He carefully sat up and used his left arm to support his right as he moved it round onto his lap. It took a lot of wiggling that jolted his arm painfully, but he managed to get his jacket off his left side and then slowly slid it off his right. When the limb was revealed he had to swallow back bile as his stomach lurched up into his throat.

His forearm was going a deep red colour and swelling up slowly but even through the swelling that made his wrist twice its original size he could see the tip of a broken bone pressing against the skin, not quite breaking through. He reached out gently feeling it with his other hand but that just sent the pain to a whole new level and he pulled his fingers back hissing.

“Ok, ok, ok. That’s fine we can deal with that. Damn if only it was, we at this moment” he said again finally wishing that the others were with him in this moment because he knew that they would have already taken charge and probably have a rescue plan established. Instead, he was sat on the ground in the middle of the woods, his whole-body aching and his arm badly broken.

“No damsel’s in distress here. Splint it, get mobile and get to help. Don’t stop” he could have sworn it was like the voices of his instructors were taking over in his mind now and with everything he knew he cast a critical eye over his surroundings. Spotting two sticks roughly the right size nearby he began shuffling along the floor and picked them up putting them on his lap on either side of his arm and pulled his jacket over. Doing up the zipper one handed was a struggle but he got it done using his teeth and then spread it out on his lap as well. The effort of moving using only one arm had left him panting but he pressed on.

The next part he knew was going to be excruciating but had to be done. He bunched up the front of his t-shirt and shoved it between his teeth to bite on not really fancying biting through his lip when the pain hit. He lifted his right arm up careful to prop his hand with his left arm and shuffled the jacket underneath his arm before letting it set back down again. The bones were moving about, and he could see them shifting under his skin, but he didn’t even give himself a moment to think about how badly the limb was hurting. He put a stick on either side of his arm making sure they extended past his wrist and elbow on both sides then wrapped the body of the jacket around his arm as tightly as he could. He then knotted the arms of the jacket around his wrist and elbow and declared it as good as it was going to get.

As soon as it was done, he spit out his t-shirt and threw his head back finally letting out one loud scream of pain, the sound echoing through the woods around him. It wasn’t nearly enough to stop the pain, but he felt better for it anyway and he didn’t care if it attracted the bear again because he was pretty sure nothing could cause him any more pain now anyway. He groaned and let a few more choked sobs escape him tears running down his face before he pulled himself back together again. He checked that there was still blood flowing to his hand and then moved forwards.

He took a moment to check his phone hoping that he might have signal by some luck but when he pulled it out of his pocket it was smashed beyond repair and though the screen flickered slightly it wasn’t going to be making any calls today. He huffed feeling the bubble of hope pop, but he had already resigned himself to his fate before this. He shoved the phone back into his pocket and began the slow process of getting to his feet. By his rough estimates he was probably at least 3 miles away from the camp so it was going to take him a while to get back to the camp, but if he followed the river below him, he could find his way.

As he got his feet under him and stood up, he cradled his broken arm in his good one trying to stop it from getting knocked around, but the arm was still aching fiercely, and he felt his blood pressure drop. Blood pooling in his lower body left his head with not nearly enough and he listed sideways only just catching himself on a tree to stay upright. Catching himself though meant his broken arm dropped and he howled in pain not even aware he could make such a sound but even though his arm was on fire he wouldn’t sit down again now. Breathing deeply against the sting of his sore ribs, he pushed off the tree, cradled his arm and began walking back towards the camp.

**In the river 8:30AM**

Ben flicked his fishing line back out across into the water looking around at the others who had all spread themselves out across the bank of the river.

“See I don’t know why Jack wouldn’t want to be doing this, we’re all having fun right?” Vic called loudly even though the forest was near enough silent.

“Yeah, we might get more fish though if you stopped shouting” Dean pointed out again, but Vic just stuck her tongue out at him.

“Well, I’ve caught one already so maybe you just need to get better at this” she retorted. They fell into silence for a few seconds before Ben spoke up this time.

“You know maybe we should call Jack, just to make sure. There are all sorts out here and we have no idea where he’s gone” he said uncertain, but he knew that there were a lot of dangers in this area and he didn’t know how much experience Jack actually had out here to handle himself.

“Aww are you worried about him, fine ok. I’ll call him and we can tell him how much he’s missing out on” Vic responded pulling her phone out and hitting Jacks number and holding the phone to his ear. She waited a few seconds before frowning. “No answer, it’s going straight to voicemail” she explained.

“Signal is always patchy out in the woods” Travis pointed out hopefully, but he didn’t sound particularly confident.

“I’m sure he’s fine, but we’ll give him a bit then try again” Vic said tucking her phone away again. Just as she did though a distant sound echoed from far upstream and she could have sworn it sounded like a person screaming.

“Did anyone else hear that?” she asked looking at the others, but no one else had even looked up.

“Hear what?” Jackson asked but she shook her head sure that she had imagined it.

“Nothing” she said looking back down at her fishing rod.

**Woodland… Somewhere in Seattle 10:00AM**

Jack was shivering even though the sun was shining on his back, the dark material of his shirt absorbing the slight warmth readily. He wasn’t sure exactly how long it had been since he had started walking back but it felt like an eternity and his teeth were chattering. It was supposed to be about 60 degrees today according to the forecast he’d seen but it felt much colder than that to him. His arm had dulled down to a slight ache over time and unless he tripped or jostled it the pain stayed relatively manageable. His ribs were sore with each inhale, but he was used to that too and so he just kept walking. He’d passed the bend in the river he’d seen earlier that marked a rough halfway point on how far he had to walk and made it back onto the main path in the hopes that he would run into someone with a working cell phone.

He had been taking sips of water every so often to try and keep himself upright, but he was really starting to struggle. He was relatively certain he was going into shock even with the adrenaline surging through him which had held it at bay for so long already. He wanted desperately to rest for a bit, but he knew that if he sat down now convincing himself to get up again would take more strength than he had left, and so on he walked.

‘At least this way is all downhill’ he thought chuckling to himself.

**Back at camp 11:00AM**

“Ok this is definitely starting to get weird even for Jack” Dean thought aloud as they packed up their fishing equipment and Travis got to work on sandwiches for lunch. They were heading back tonight so they had packed up most of their things back into the two cars they’d come in.

“Yeah, he said before lunch. At what point do we start to get concerned?” Jackson asked, he was the least experienced in these sorts of situations even with his career as a doctor.

“He’s likely just gotten lost or not paying attention to the time, but we’ll give him till at least after 12 before we start to raise any alarms. He’d never forgive us if we called in a search party because he forgot to look at his watch” Travis said laughing softly.

“Yeah, god if he has managed to get himself into trouble, I’m going to be so pissed. He could have stayed with us, but he just had to go off on his own” Vic said.

“Hey, he’s had it rough lately just let him be” Dean said knowingly but Vic just shrugged.

**Somewhere in the forest 12:45PM**

Finally, Jack could hear people’s voices in the distance as he continued along the trail. His shivering had only gotten worse as time went on and his right hand was almost white making him worried about what was going to happen when he made it to a hospital, but he’d checked a few times and there was still a weak pulse reaching his fingers, so he was trying to stay hopeful.

“Ok, does anyone have any idea when he left? I haven’t got any signal here to try and call him again” Vic’s voice became clear as he kept stumbling on along the path. They must be looking for him by now.

“We don’t even know for sure which direction he went in. Damn it, he could be 10 miles away by now if he’s been walking all morning. Surely he would have turned back by now” this time it was Travis’s voice that he heard but he was only about 200ft away from them now so he knew he could put an end to their panic. Not that he wasn’t touched by their concern, but he just needed a lift to the hospital to get his arm sorted. Some painkillers would be amazing too, but he knew they didn’t have anything stronger than Advil with them. He could see Dean walking around with his phone held up in the air and by sheer luck the big man started heading in his direction.

“Dean?” he called but his voice was croaky and rough. He coughed slightly before trying again more loudly this time satisfied as his head jolted up to look at him. Dean looked shocked for a second before he broke into a run towards him closing the distance in seconds.

“Jack?!” Dean said incredulously. He skidded to a stop in front of him looking up and down taking in the pale skin, blood down one side of his face (that Jack himself hadn’t even noticed) and arm wrapped very haphazardly in the jacket. “What happened? Are you ok?” Dean asked reaching towards him but clearly not sure where it was safe to touch him without knowing his injuries.

“Long story… need to sit down” Jack said shaking his head slightly as dots were starting to appear in his field of vision.

“Ok easy. GUYS!! OVER HERE!” Dean shouted back towards the others. Jack flinched at the loudness but then couldn’t help but groan as the flinch was enough to make his ribs hurt. Seeing that Dean was still floundering he began walking towards the camp again only just reaching a tree stump in time to sit heavily before the others appeared. They all came from different directions all with the same shocked expression that Dean had only seconds before. Vic was the first to break the silence.

“Jack? What happened? Are you ok? What…” Vic began asking questions at a mile a minute. Jackson put a hand on her arm to get her to stop talking finally.

“Bear… came out of nowhere… fell off the path trying to get away” he explained quickly his breath coming shakily between words. He was still shaking, and Dean finally seemed to snap out of his surprise and pulled off his own jacket before carefully placing it around Jack’s shoulders. The jacket felt so warm around him that he huddled down into it shivering.

“You got attacked by a bear?” Travis asked incredulously. Ben had knelt down in front of him and was reaching for his arm questioningly, but Jack had lowered it onto his lap slowly and used his other to guard it, leaning away from him not ready to let anyone touch it.

“No. I ran from the bear, but the edge of the path was a drop-off about 30 foot, and I slipped. Rolled down the hill and hit a few trees on the way” Jack said his eyes drooping as the warmth from the jacket combined with the exhaustion making him feel even more tired. “Was going to call for help but my phone broke” he explained pulling the phone out showing the bent form of it.

“Right, so you took a nasty fall. You’re heads bleeding but what are we looking at with your arm?” Ben asked not reaching out towards it again but clearly wanting to examine him. He was grateful that at least for now they were willing to go at his pace though he doubted that would last long.

“’s broken, bones pressing against the skin. Hadn’t come through when I wrapped it, but it is a bad break” Jack said his voice barely stronger than a whisper. His head nodded forward for a second, but he pulled it back up when hands appeared on his shoulders holding him upright.

“Hey, you need to stay awake. Can I look at your arm? If it is that badly broken, we may need to reduce it out here” Ben said grimly.

“I know, been checking for blood flow but it’s mostly numb right now” he responded. Realising he hadn’t actually given Ben permission he nodded slightly and used his left arm to pull his right forwards Deans jacket slipping off his shoulders. He went to pull it back up, but it was pulled up again by its owner before he had the chance.

“Jackson, I need your help. I’ll untie it, can you support the arm once it’s free” Ben said as he took Jacks arm gently in his hands. The two doctors worked together removing the splint from his arm and Jack didn’t really feel any of it until the two sticks were lifted away and he felt the bones shift slightly. He thought about shoving his shirt back in his mouth but as they continued examining his arm the pain came back all at once and he gasped. The sudden gasp caused his ribs to reignite their pain as well and suddenly it was all too much. He felt his head drop forwards and he would have fallen to the floor if it wasn’t for someone, probably Dean, grabbing him.

“HEY JACK? Can you hear me? Ok. Travis, Dean get him down on the ground. Vic what first-aid equipment do we have with us? This arm is a mess” Ben’s voice was just barely audible. He felt hands on his legs and under his shoulders lift him up from where he’d been sat, and someone must have laid a sleeping bag down because he was laying on something soft rather than the wet ground he’d been expecting. Someone put something under his head and his knees were propped up allowing the blood to flow back to his head again.

“Jack can you hear me?” this time it was Jackson talking to him and he felt warm fingers against his neck.

“Yeah, I’m good” Jack replied weakly and he opened his eyes again to find the doctor crouched next to him with Vic smirking at him from behind him.

“Somehow I don’t believe that. Follow my finger with your eyes” Jackson instructed, and Jack went along with it tracking the finger as it moved around in front of him. Jackson pulled his phone out and used the torch on the back to check his pupils which though annoying didn’t cause him any pain at least so he tolerated it without complaint.

“Neuro is clear, probably just syncope from pain” Jackson concluded more to Ben but everyone there had advanced medical training, so the collective sigh of relief was almost audible.

“The bone hasn’t come through yet, but it is very close, we’re going to have to reduce it now because I can’t feel a pulse. Vic?” Jackson asked turning to his girlfriend as he and Ben returned to examining Jack’s arm. Jack risked a glance back at it, but he felt bile surging up his throat, and he very nearly lost the battle with his own stomach again, he suspected reducing it was going to push him over the edge.

“We’ve got a basic kit but nothing for this level. Some ace bandages and I grabbed two tent poles and some extra clothes; they should make a better splint for it” she said reappearing in Jack’s line of sight with her arms full of stuff.

“No morphine then?” Jack joked hopefully.

“If you wanted morphine you should have broken your arm closer to civilisation, I’m afraid” Ben laughed softly but anyone could see the apologetic look in his eyes for what he knew was about to come.

“Fair point. Next time I’ll plan so I don’t have to walk for 4 hours as well” Jack said closing his eyes again for a second.

“You’ve been walking like this for 4 hours?” Travis asked his shocked expression mirrored on everyone else’s faces.

“Yeah, think it was about 8 when I fell, but I didn’t look at the time much, just had to keep going. Knew if I sat down, I wouldn’t get up” he explained. He hadn’t really meant to say that last part out loud, but it seemed like the barrier between his brain and his mouth was giving up.

“You did great Jack. We’ve got you from here” Dean’s voice came from above and behind him and Jack glanced in his direction nodding jerkily.

“Ok, Vic and Dean, can you pack everything else up. I want us ready to go in the next 15 minutes. Travis you talk to him because this isn’t going to be pleasant” Ben said exchanging a silent glance with Jackson, both of them showing matching looks of grim determination. Dean stood up from next to him and went with Vic to do as he’d been instructed, and Travis crouched on his left side picking up Jacks good hand in his own.

“Squeeze it like you mean it” Travis said forcing a smile. “So, were you just trying to avoid Vic then?” he asked. Jack opened his mouth to respond but he felt Jackson and Ben taking hold of his broken arm and looked over at them fearfully wanting desperately to pull away.

“Hey, no eyes on me! Focus on me, tell me where you were walking?” Travis was calling to him, but he couldn’t stop looking until a hand on his chin pulled his head around to face Travis again.

“Umm, just the ridge further up the river. I wanted some time on my… OWW!!” he started talking but as soon as he did his arm lifted up and he felt the bones slide as the arm was pulled apart at his wrist and elbow until he heard a crunching noise. He couldn’t hear anything after that and was pretty sure he was screaming but couldn’t even tell if his mouth was open or not. The pain in his arm was indescribable and he couldn’t breathe. He prayed that he was going to pass out but instead of blissful darkness he felt the pain in his arm decrease slightly now that the bones were back in place but not nearly enough to make it tolerable. Something was wrapped around his arm and he could feel fingers against his throat again this time he couldn’t bring himself to do anything to reassure them that he was ok because he wasn’t so sure that he was. As his arm was secured, he panted in quick gasps that made his chest feel horrible and his head spin, but he just kept going unable to do much else for now. He couldn’t feel Travis’s hand in his anymore and he assumed it was his fingers that were against his neck monitoring his pulse.

This torture seemed to last forever but was probably only a few minutes before his arm was set down on something that lifted it up above the rest of his body and it felt much more stable than it had before even if it was now burning fiercely rather than just dully aching. He could feel pins and needles in his hand, but he knew it was a good sign that he could feel his hand again and for his own benefit he gently flexed his index finger more to know if he could than anything else.

“Don’t try and move it right now. Can you feel me touching your fingers? Jack?” Jackson’s voice broke through the haze in his head.

“Tingling” he breathed out the reply. He forced his eyes open to slits and had to squint for a second before they could focus again. Travis was knelt in the same place as before but as he suspected had a hand lightly resting on Jack’s chest indicating he’d been the one monitoring him. Dean and Vic were still rushing through loading the cars and Jackson was checking his hand over. The new splint looked almost as roughly cobbled together as the previous one, but it was secured all the way up his forearm with ace bandages and what looked like some of Vic’s cardigans wrapped over the top making his arm look huge, but his hand was turning a much healthier colour and his fingers were twitching slightly so it looked far better.

“Good, now was it just your arm and head. Sounds like you rolled a long way?” Ben asked locking eyes seriously with him.

“For the most part yeah... Lot of bruises… Think I cracked some ribs but can barely feel them over the arm” he explained shifting on the sleeping bag slightly.

“Which side?” Ben asked moving around and reaching for the waist of his shirt.

“Right as well. Hit one tree with my legs and flipped over. Arm took most of the fall but hit my chest too before I stopped” he explained letting his eyes close again for a few seconds before trying to focus himself back in again. Ben pulled his t-shirt up and began feeling his ribs checking up both sides one by one until Jack felt one shift ever so slightly and he pulled away instinctively groaning.

“Yep, at least one broken and there’s a lot of bruising but it’s not displaced. Should just need watching” Ben said pulling his shirt back down again for him.

“That’s good” Jack thought aloud, his voice tired and rough.

“Definitely. Ok, so has anyone got signal up here?” Ben looked around at the group, but everyone was shaking their heads.

“I don’t need a bus, walked this far I can wait through the drive back to town” Jack insisted. Ben looked sceptical but Jackson spoke up.

“He’s right, none of the injuries are critical technically. As long as we get him straight to the ER, we’ll be quicker than an ambulance anyway” Jackson said looking around at the others who seemed to agree.

“Ok, as long as you know this isn’t going to be pleasant, we don’t have any painkillers and the roads out here are bumpy” Ben said.

“Well, it’s been a breeze so far so how much worse could it get?” Jack said only half joking. His breathing had slowly settled now that he’d been laying down for quite a while but at the prospect of having to get up, he pulled in a deep breath.

“Very funny, let’s try and sit you up” Travis put an arm behind his back and Jack tried to work with him but found the other man had to take most of his weight to pull him up. Once he was sitting up Jackson lifted his broken arm around and held it up for him as Ben carefully tied it up in a sling that must have been in the first aid kit. Once the sling was secure, the two doctors moved backwards and stood up leaving only Travis crouched next to him on the floor and he couldn’t help but feel self-conscious. His arm was held up against his chest and so finally his left arm was free and not having to hold onto it.

“You guys ready over there?” Jackson called and he glanced over to see that Dean and Vic had pulled one of the cars as close as they could and opened the back door for him to get in.

“Yep” Vic called back her voice shaking slightly, and Jack was surprised to see she had a few tears rolling down her face. His screaming must not have just been in his head then, he offered her a smile to try and reassure her, but it was quickly gone again as he focussed on standing.

Travis and Ben both hooked their hands under his armpits, and he was lifted up onto his feet. He swayed slightly but got his bearings surprisingly quickly and began the slow walk over to the car. He made it to the car and Ben released his right side so that he could get in and Travis helped him up into the backseat of the SUV. Once he was on the seat, he swung himself round and sat back heavily relaxing into the seat that someone had leaned back for him. Travis pulled the seatbelt around him carefully tucking it under his arm and leaning across him to buckle it. He leaned out and shut the door behind him just as the door opened on the other side and Ben climbed in, dropping the first aid kit on the seat between them. He turned accepting something from someone that soon turned out to be Dean’s jacket that was then draped over him again. Travis got in, in front of him in the driver’s seat and Jackson climbed in on the passenger’s side. Jack looked out the window watching as Dean and Vic got in the pick-up that they had rented to carry the bulk of their equipment.

“Don’t want to go with your girlfriend then Avery?” Jack asked figuring that conversation was probably the best way to keep his mind occupied. Travis started the vehicle, and they began the long drive. His arm was feeling a lot better since it had been reduced but he was beginning to feel nauseous.

“Oh, don’t worry, I may love Vic, but the drive up here was enough for now, so you were trying to avoid her then this morning when you went birdwatching right?” Jackson replied.

“Yeah, don’t tell her but I seriously couldn’t handle her games last night. I wanted to have a peaceful weekend so figured I’d go for a walk this morning to cool off but ended up facing off with a bear. I thought it would just turn back and leave me alone or at least let me go back the other way, but it started chasing me instead. Rocks gave way under my feet and I fell off the path, was probably only 30 foot but it felt like forever and just glad it didn’t follow me down because no idea what I would have done if it had been down there with me” Jack explained. He felt more like he was rambling, but no one spoke up to stop him, so he just kept talking, glancing out the window. He only stopped talking when his stomach gave a sudden lurch, and he clamped his mouth shut tight.

“They won’t normally follow people down a steep hill, you know it’s actually the advice to go down a hill away from them because they’ll be less likely to follow… Hey, are you alright? Is your arm hurting?” Ben turned to look at Jack as he realised, he’d stopped talking so abruptly.

“I think I’m gonna throw up” Jack admitted through pursed lips as he swallowed back excess saliva that was building up.

“Ok, right, umm have we got anything?” Ben looked around hopefully coming up empty and Jack heard Jackson rummaging in the glove box. Suddenly a roll of plastic bags was being passed back and Ben quickly ripped one off. He opened it just as Jack began gagging and since he only had one arm and the other was under Dean’s jacket Ben just held the bag under his chin for him. He heaved up the water that he’d been forcing down while he was walking. He felt completely miserable now, but he coughed a few times and spat into the bag before wiping his mouth on the jacket.

“Sorry, ‘m sorry, ‘m sorry” he mumbled letting his head flop back against the headrest and closing his eyes. He was embarrassed to have just thrown up on himself in front of his friends worse that Ben had to hold the bag for him, but he was so tired that he could barely keep his eyes open anymore.

“It’s fine Jack, we’ve all seen this before. Just the adrenaline is wearing off. You’ll be fine once we get you to Grey-Sloan” Ben said patting him on the shoulder before tying off the bag and dropping it down into the footwell. “You should be apologizing to Dean really because this is his jacket that you just got vomit on, I’m sure he’ll forgive you though” Ben said softly.

“I’ll buy him a new one, if he’s bothered” Jack said.

The rest of the journey out of the forest went by quickly for Jack, mostly helped by the fact that he spent it half asleep with Ben shaking him every so often to get him to stay awake. As they made it onto the highway, and he knew they were close to the hospital now he was finding it harder and harder each time to wake up properly. He knew he was dehydrated, and his blood sugar must be low by now, so it was no surprise he was so sleepy.

“We’re about 10 minutes out now, I’m going to call ahead now that we’ve got signal” Jackson said. He made the phone call speaking quickly into the phone before turning around in his seat.

“Ok, Hunt is going to have a team waiting and he’s paged Link. We’ll get you some painkillers soon. Just hang on for a bit longer Jack and then you can rest” Jackson said.

“Sounds good” Jack nodded. He knew Dr Hunt fairly well and had heard of Link around the hospital and so knew that he was the best orthopaedic surgeon he could hope for, even though he wished he didn’t actually need one. They kept going, Dean and Vic were directly in front of them in the pick-up truck and he was fairly certain that Jackson had been texting them updates as they drove.

He had just begun to nod off again when they pulled into the ambulance bay, but he was woken up as the car pulled to a stop and his head lolled forwards. He pulled it upright and looked around spotting Owen outside with a nurse and a gurney. As soon as they were stopped everyone else was out of the car and Ben pulled open the door by Jack. He leant in and pushed the jacket off him before undoing the seatbelt and sliding it out from under his arm. Jack began sliding himself out of the car, but his legs shook as he tried to stand up and Travis and Ben resumed their previous holds on him, this time helping him up onto the gurney. Jackson was explaining a brief run down to Owen of what had happened to him as they then began wheeling him inside. Travis, Dean and Vic stayed out with the cars leaving him with just Jackson, Ben, Owen and the nurse that he wasn’t sure the name off.

“Ok, let’s get him on a monitor, start an IV and we’re going to need chest and arm films, head CT and a CBC to start with. Jack how are you doing?” Owen said leaning over the gurney once they were in a trauma room. He pulled out a penlight and set about checking his pupils.

“Really hoping you have better drugs than these two” he joked as Owen looked up to the others in confusion.

“We didn’t give him anything. He was apparently surprised we don’t bring morphine for camping trips” Ben said laughing.

“Right, well we can sort that out for you soon enough. You’re going to need to wait until we’ve checked you over and Link should be here any second then we can get you something for the pain” Owen explained moving down to remove the sling. A tall brown-haired doctor walked in pulling on a pair of gloves as he did so.

“Right, what have we got… Jackson, I thought you were supposed to be camping?” Link asked looking around in confusion.

“Oh, we were, Jack here went for a walk, faced off with a bear and then fell off a small cliff so we had to cut it a bit short” Jackson explained.

“Right, how long ago did this happen? And how big was the bear?” Link said grinning as he asked the second question.

“Not sure exactly, I broke my phone when I fell but I was walking for at hours to get back to camp, and I think it happened around 8 so 4 hours ago. And I’m gonna go with huge because it makes me look better” Jack explained.

“Yeah, doesn’t really look as good if it was just a cub. So, did you do this yourself?” Link asked gesturing to the splint that was now on his arm.

“No, he had splinted it to walk back but the hand was pulseless and cold when we got to him. Reduced and re-splinted it and he’s maintained good blood flow to it since then. Bone wasn’t protruding but was visible under the skin so definitely displaced fracture” Jackson explained.

“Ok, let’s take a look” Link said. Owen helped support his arm and for the umpteenth time that day Jack grit his teeth together as his arm was unwrapped and he felt the bones in his arm shift painfully. He sucked in a deep breath through his nose tensing even as the cardigans were removed and when they reached the ace bandage that was wrapped around the tent poles, he was more than ready to be dosed up to his ears on painkillers.

“OK, reduction looks to be successful, a lot of swelling in the forearm and wrist. Where was the bone?” Link asked looking up at Jackson who quickly leaned over to point to where the bone had been poking up, which matched with the darkest area of bruising.

“It might need surgery, but I’d need to see an x-ray. Let’s get it in an air splint for now. I’ll just check the ribs and then I need to get back to the OR and check on my resident” Link said setting the arm down carefully on a pillow provided by the nurse.

“Please tell me it’s drugs time” Jack was pleading with them at this point and he got the feeling that because he wasn’t screaming like most patients would be, they didn’t think he was in as much pain.

“Of course, 5mg of morphine, and then let’s get him to x-ray” Owen instructed. Jack watched joyfully as the nurse drew up the dosage of morphine and didn’t even stop to think that he hadn’t noticed the IV going into his good arm, he only cared about the way the pain dulled significantly and his head felt like it was floating away from his body as the morphine finally entered his bloodstream. His eyelids instantly drooped, and he felt like he was sinking through the bed onto the floor. He didn’t even care that someone was calling his name he was too exhausted to care and finally he welcomed the darkness behind his eyelids as he lost consciousness.

**Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital 11:00PM**

The next thing Jack was aware off was someone’s hand in his left hand, their thumb rubbing the back of his palm. He didn’t know who it was, but he gently flexed his fingers before squeezing their hand lightly to let them know he was awake. Slowly sounds began filtering through to him, starting with a constant familiar beeping sound and then a soft voice from somewhere nearby.

“Jack, can you hear me?” Vic spoke gently squeezing his hand softly and again he squeezed it back again. He drew in a deep breath letting it out slowly as he opened his eyes slightly squinting at her.

“Hey” he breathed looking around the room and spotting Dean asleep on an armchair and Travis sleeping on a sofa against the wall of the hospital room.

“Hey, how do you feel?” Vic asked him standing up, and pouring him a glass of water before offering him the straw.

“Tired, I don’t remember anything after we got to the hospital?” he asked frowning after taking a small sip.

“You passed out, woke up a few times but you weren’t making much sense. The docs said you were just exhausted. You had to have surgery on your arm to realign the bones but they it was successful, and you should be back to active duty in no time” Vic spoke softly to him. Hearing movement Jack looked around to see that Travis and Dean were both waking up.

“That’s good” he said sleepily. Looking down at his arm he saw it was propped up on a pillow next to him and had yet another splint in place with bandages visible underneath but there was an icepack on it, and it looked significantly better than when he’d last seen it.

“You know if you didn’t want to play my extremely awesome games you could have just told me, you didn’t have to wonder off into the wilderness and break your everything in the process” Vic joked trying to sound offended but just sounding more concerned than anything.

  
“Didn’t break everything… jus’ somethin’. Think I’m going sleep now” he’d really meant to stay awake to talk to them but instead he found himself drifting off and he could have sworn he heard Travis laugh as Vic said “Well that’s just taking the easy way out” as he lost consciousness again.


End file.
